<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>the spaces between my fingers are right where yours fit perfectly by keplcrs</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27601915">the spaces between my fingers are right where yours fit perfectly</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/keplcrs/pseuds/keplcrs'>keplcrs</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - College/University, Canon Compliant, Kuroo Tetsurou-centric, M/M, Other characters are mentioned in passing, also kind of a 5+1, but not important enough to tag lmao, not really post-timeskip its kind of like.... mid-timeskip???, sorta - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 01:07:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,281</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27601915</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/keplcrs/pseuds/keplcrs</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>the thing is: bokuto koutarou is not a faraway unattainable thing because he will never, under any circumstances, let himself become faraway and unattainable. </p><p>(kuroo reaches for him anyway.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bokuto Koutarou/Kuroo Tetsurou</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>90</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>the spaces between my fingers are right where yours fit perfectly</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>happy birthday kuroo!! this isn't a birthday fic but it IS kuroo-centric and i haven't had the time to finish the other fic i had planned for today. as it is, this was kind of rushed and unbetaed but im okay with how it turned out so here yall go! title is from vanilla twilight by owl city i promise i did not choose it with bokuto and owls in mind but the vibe of owl city songs just fits him</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>halfway through kuroo's second year of university, he helps bokuto pack his things and drives him to osaka so he can move into the msby black jackals apartment complex.</p><p>it's a good team— a great one, now, with names like inunaki shion and bokuto koutarou on their roster, and kuroo is proud of bokuto, he really is, but.</p><p>but his shitty car feels emptier than ever when he has to drive back to tokyo alone, the volume turned low on the playlist bokuto had made for all of their car rides together, and when he arrives, the city seems so much more stagnant without anyone in his passenger seat pointing out dogs and old opponents and stores to check out "later, bro, at some point, i swear we'll go there."</p><p>(he still drives kenma around, of course, but kenma is quiet and their car rides are banter and video game soundtracks and kuroo having to focus on the road. he gives yaku a ride to the airport when he leaves for russia, and he drives shibayama to the train station after crashing a nekoma practice-turned-reunion that had run late, and he’ll drive his grandmother around to get groceries so they can cook together when he visits home, but it's not the same.)</p><p>realistically, osaka isn't even that far. bokuto isn't going overseas, and kuroo <em> does </em> have a car. even if he didn't, he's spent ages taking the trains, so it isn't that hard. he can easily take a day trip down to visit, and he knows bokuto will be back in the off-season to visit his family, crashing fukurodani's practices and kuroo's study sessions whenever he's got time. </p><p>it isn't as if bokuto is suddenly some faraway unattainable thing that kuroo keeps reaching for but never gets quite close enough to grab.</p><p>still. it feels like it, sometimes.</p><p>★</p><p>the thing is: bokuto koutarou is not a faraway unattainable thing because he will never, under any circumstances, let himself become faraway and unattainable. </p><p>kuroo learned this in high school, when bokuto put his number into kuroo's phone after their first year at the summer training camp together and bombarded him with texts while nekoma was on the bus home. he learned it at all the training camps that followed, watching bokuto take first years under his wing— akaashi in their second year, and hinata in their third. he learned it again at nationals, watching him wander around the tokyo metropolitan gym like it was what he was born to do but always, always checking in on his own teammates before wandering off— usually to check in on kuroo's teammates, and sawamura's teammates. </p><p>he learns it now, when he sees photos of washio tatsuki, fukurodani alumni and newly-minted ejp raijin middle blocker, laughing at bokuto who is halfway under the net to go crush his teammate-turned-opponent into a hug. he learns it again when he hears through kenma that hinata still calls him for advice— for volleyball, for being a third year, for mentoring first years, for <em> anything </em>. </p><p>he can’t blame hinata for it, though, since most of kuroo's skype notifications these days are video calls with bokuto too. he always picks up when kuroo calls even though their conversations are usually rushed, trying to coordinate ten-minute breaks in between black jackals practices and business classes. he learns it then, too— bokuto is going places, but he'll never forget where he came from.</p><p>★</p><p>the thing is: bokuto koutarou barges into people's lives, carves a space for himself, and never stays away long enough for them to fill it in his absence.</p><p>if anything, kuroo is the one pulling away— he lets himself drift without really realizing it, buried under assignments and shifts at his part-time job. it’s not <em> good </em>, but things move quickly enough that kuroo can’t spare the time to think about how much it sucks. </p><p>tokyo feels empty for all of two months. two months of working, and working, and short breaks that don’t seem to have any real effect. two months of kuroo casting guilty looks at his phone lighting up with messages before he flips it over or turns it off for a few hours. </p><p>all in all, it’s a shitty two months. </p><p>and then bokuto comes back for a visit. he's there to try and visit all of his high school friends in the span of two days, so it's bound to be chaotic, but for someone like bokuto who thrives on the non-stop social interaction, it's probably a dream come true.</p><p>kuroo meets akaashi at the train station ten minutes before bokuto is due to arrive, and he's got kenma in tow. he's <em> nervous </em>, for some goddamn reason, all tense and jittery, and he knows both kenma and akaashi can tell that something is off about him beyond how overworked he is, but he shrugs it off with a practiced smirk and tries to make a bet with akaashi on whether or not bokuto will get lost trying to find them. </p><p>"he'll be fine," akaashi tells him, although he's checking his phone every few minutes, his chat history with bokuto pulled up where kuroo can see it. "have some faith in him."</p><p>kuroo snorts, watching a train pull in. "i do have faith in him," he tells akaashi. "i just don't have faith in his navigation skills."</p><p>bokuto, surprisingly, doesn't get lost. he spots the three of them immediately and barrels through the crowd of people much more quickly and gracefully than a six-foot-something tall mass of professional volleyball player should ever be able to, armed with three brand-new msby black jackals hats that he drops onto each of their heads, squishing kuroo's down over his mess of bedhead. akaashi shoots him a smug look as bokuto pulls them both into a group hug, shouting a hello at kenma who has taken a few steps away to avoid getting crushed.</p><p>all at once, kuroo feels the tension ease out of his shoulders, and everything feels fine again.</p><p>(later, kuroo buys akaashi three onigiri from a konbini that they pass on their way to visit fukurodani. he complains and gripes about it, but he still hands them over without fuss— and then he gets roped into buying another one for kenma, and one for bokuto too.)</p><p>★</p><p>the thing is: bokuto isn't far, but kuroo reaches for him anyway.</p><p>kuroo is supposed to be studying for a midterm— and he is, he swears, but the characters on the page are starting to blur together and he needs a break more than anything.</p><p>it's late, and he knows that bokuto should be asleep, because he's a professional athlete with a professional sleep schedule, and he'd always slept early anyways, even back in high school. still, he digs out his phone from beneath all of his notes and pens and unlocks it, finger hovering over bokuto's contact.</p><p>this has happened before. this happens every time kuroo gets stressed and needs a breather instead of someone to kick his ass in gear. (for that, he calls kenma, who is almost always still awake, or yaku, if he's feeling like being extra hard on himself.) </p><p>either way, he's used to the brief lapses in judgement that have him considering calling bokuto at one-thirty in the morning.</p><p>what doesn't usually happen, though, is kuroo actually following through and calling him. it's by pure accident when it finally does happen. his finger slips, his phone drops a little, the hours of studying have made him slow to react— at least, that’s what he thinks. </p><p>or maybe it’s a little bit intentional, and he really does just need a break in the form of bokuto’s voice and a distraction from the stress.</p><p>bokuto, for whatever reason, picks up immediately.</p><p>"hey hey," bokuto whispers— it's more of a whisper-shout, really, and his voice is rough, as if he was already asleep— and kuroo cringes.</p><p>"hi," he says. and then, "sorry. i didn't mean to wake you."</p><p>bokuto laughs, and kuroo decides that <em> fuck it </em> , <em> he's already on the phone </em> and flips his textbook closed. he's not going to be able to take in any of this information right now anyways. "nah, don't worry about it," he hears, and then there's some shuffling around. when bokuto speaks up next, he sounds considerably more awake. "you okay? you got a test coming up, right?" </p><p>he nods, even though he knows bokuto can't see him. he doesn't really remember having ever mentioned when his midterm for this class was, but he knows bokuto will always remember most of the more trivial details in their conversations— one-off comments or complaints, stuff that kuroo forgets he'd said after ten minutes. "mhm. yeah, next week."</p><p>"s'that why you're still up? it's… bro, it's past one." </p><p>a glance at the clock tells him that bokuto is, in fact, correct. a glance at his <em> books </em> reminds him that 'past one' might not be enough. </p><p>"kuroo?" </p><p>kuroo jumps. a pen rolls off the desk and clatters to the floor. "mh?" he'd forgotten that he was actually on the phone. </p><p>"go to bed," bokuto tells him. "you're spacin' out on me."</p><p>"shit," he says. he hadn't even realized bokuto was still talking. he loved listening to bokuto talk, the way he spun his stories with all the sound effects and tangents and nonsense connections, but sometimes those stories were difficult to follow, especially when kuroo is as exhausted as he is right now. "sorry—"</p><p>bokuto cuts him off. "no, i don't care about that— well, i do, i'm just gonna tell you about it later— but you should go to bed before you fall asleep in your chair again."</p><p>kuroo tries to mumble a protest, but bokuto’s urging him to put his stuff away, promising to stay on the line at least until he hears that kuroo is properly in bed— he even demands a photo as proof, so kuroo sends him a blurry video of himself flipping off the camera before panning to the empty desk chair, lit up by the flash because the lights are already off. bokuto snickers at it, but he stays on the phone the whole time, recounting the story he’d been telling earlier. </p><p>kuroo still doesn’t catch most of it, and he falls asleep halfway through it, but he wakes to a text from bokuto that reads: <em> ‘good night!!!!! im quizzing you on that story next time we talk!! but after ur other test. good luck on that btw!!!!’ </em></p><p>★</p><p>the thing is: bokuto isn't far, but he's still too far for kuroo to reach. </p><p>kuroo has always tried to make it to as many of bokuto’s games as he can. </p><p>the black jackals are based in osaka, so home games are difficult to get to, and the v. league has teams all over the place but bokuto still isn’t in tokyo very often. still, kuroo and akaashi make it a point to try and go at least twice a month. sometimes bokuto plays, other times he doesn’t, but they always meet up and go out to eat afterwards.</p><p>in kuroo’s final year of university, he misses three months’ worth of games in a row. bokuto officially makes the starting lineup, and kuroo sends his congratulations, but still can’t get away for long enough to go to a game. he sends apology after apology, and calls as soon as he hears that they’ve finished— news he gets from akaashi, who still makes it to the games, or kenma, who watches them from his living room. they never tell him the outcome of the game, just so kuroo can be fully invested in listening to bokuto talk, and he knows that he probably shouldn’t be taking such long breaks when he’s already struggling to keep up, but he reasons that it’s the least he can do after having to break the news to bokuto yet <em> again </em> that he’ll be missing the next match.</p><p>he hates it, though. he hates having to let bokuto down— he knows that bokuto understands, and he’d never get mad at kuroo for being unable to make it. still, he can hear the disappointment in bokuto’s voice whenever kuroo gently apologizes for being too busy to go to a game, and the exclamation points that normally punctuate bokuto’s texts feel forced whenever he replies to kuroo’s <em> ‘good luck! sorry i couldn’t make it today,’ </em> with an <em> ‘it’s fine, have fun studying!!’ </em></p><p>maybe he’s overthinking it. </p><p>it isn’t that he doesn’t like their post-game phone calls. he loves hearing bokuto tell him all about the games— even after playing a full five-set match, there’s a contagious excitement in bokuto’s voice that makes kuroo want to run around the block to burn off energy. (he doesn’t, because he barely has time to be on the phone to begin with, but he’s certainly entertained the thought a few times.) the issue is that kuroo <em> wants </em> to be there. he likes hearing bokuto recount stories from the match, but he’d much rather be there in person to see the plays for himself— and to see <em> bokuto </em>.</p><p>which is why, finally, he decides to just suck it up and take the weekend off. it’s hellish to try and organize, but it’s been four months since he’s seen bokuto play in person, and kuroo reasons that it’s worth all of the cramming he’s going to have to do. </p><p>he goes alone, as a surprise, and spends the entire shinkansen ride on his laptop, trying to rush through assignments so he won’t have to worry about them later. he makes lists of things to do on the ride back, making sure he can access everything he needs to, and complains to kenma over text about how much he hates university. it’s a hassle, and he knows that he’ll be playing catch-up for at least a week and a half, but he’s already bought his ticket to the game, and he misses bokuto too much to bail on this now. </p><p>(he doesn’t regret it. he can’t, not when he sees the way bokuto’s eyes light up when they catch sight of kuroo waiting in the stands after the game. he lingers until bokuto is done talking to news reporters and his teammates and his coach, standing alone and leaning against the railing as he watches bokuto bounce from person to person until he finally makes his way over to kuroo.</p><p>bokuto drags him out to a tiny little ramen place once he’s showered and changed, talking about the game just as eagerly as he does whenever they’re on the phone, and kuroo decides that this— dodging bokuto’s flailing hands as he gestures around, and watching him laugh whenever kuroo makes a quip about atsumu’s setting or meian’s blocks— is worth the headache it’ll cause him when he goes home.) </p><p>★</p><p>this thing is: bokuto has always been reaching back. </p><p>he has no qualms about reaching out first whenever kuroo gets caught up in assignments and won’t respond for hours on end. he’ll video-call and be perfectly content to just sit and watch kuroo try and finish an essay, or prompt kuroo to read textbook passages to him— partially as a study strategy for kuroo, and partially so bokuto can make fun of his textbooks. </p><p>(he beams when kuroo tells him it actually helps— saying it out loud is good, he’s always known that, but he doesn’t like reading textbook passages to an empty room, and sometimes bokuto will even get invested enough to ask questions and make kuroo explain things. even if he doesn’t, and even if all he does is tease kuroo about how pretentious all of his textbooks sound, it’s still good practice that <em> doesn’t </em> make him feel weird about reading to a blank wall.)</p><p>bokuto visits unannounced whenever he’s back in town, too, mostly so kuroo doesn’t feel guilty about being busy whenever he <em> does </em> drop by. whenever it happens, bokuto just wanders around kuroo’s bedroom and keeps him company, talking about his teammates and asking questions about the photos on kuroo’s walls, or looking over his shoulder while he works. it’s distracting, the first time he does it, but kuroo soon begins to anticipate the conversations— he can multitask, and bokuto always seems to know when he hits his limit, because as soon as kuroo starts to feel his focus slipping, bokuto starts insisting that kuroo take a break and go for dinner with him.</p><p>kuroo never protests. </p><p>he’s wrapping up an essay when it happens again— bokuto, who had been laying spread-eagle on his bed looking at the shapes on the ceiling, is suddenly leaning over the back of his chair. kuroo yelps as it tips backwards, meeting bokuto’s eyes for a split-second before the front legs of the chair are being set back down. </p><p>“tetsu,” he hears, and bokuto is whining, but in the good-natured teasing way that means kuroo can ignore him if he really needs to focus. (kuroo has never <em> once </em> ignored that tone.) “you’ve been rewriting that sentence for like, six minutes,” bokuto continues, squinting at the screen over kuroo’s shoulder and prodding at his cheek. “come on, take a break. it’s dinnertime anyway, and i know you haven’t eaten anything for the last couple hours. komiyan told me ‘bout this new restaurant that he thought i’d like, and i think it’s nearby so i wanted to wait ‘till i could go with you, but i forgot about it last time— i mean, that other place we went to was really good too, we should go back next time— anyway, i wanted to check out komi’s suggestion first, and i don’t wanna go by myself.”</p><p>kuroo blinks at the screen. the cursor blinks back. it’s the last sentence before he has to proofread it, but bokuto is right. he’s rewritten it so many times already and nothing sounds right. bokuto’s still rambling right by his ear, bright and quick, and it’s a much better alternative than trying to force the words onto the paper, so kuroo gives in.</p><p>“okay,” he says. bokuto lets out a whoop, already heading for the door as kuroo saves everything and closes his laptop. </p><p>he takes his time, mostly because he thinks it’s funny watching a fully-grown professional athlete bouncing on the balls of his feet in kuroo’s too-small apartment, grinning like he’s just won a prize in the form of kuroo agreeing to go out to dinner with him. </p><p>the downside to this, of course, is that as soon as kuroo opens the door, bokuto practically takes off down the hallway. kuroo’s tall and it isn’t like he’s out of shape or anything, but he’s hindered by the fact that he has to lock the door. when he looks up again, bokuto is halfway down the hall.</p><p>“oi,” he calls, shoving his keys into his pocket. “wait up, i thought you didn’t wanna go to the restaurant by yourself!”</p><p>bokuto turns around and beams at him, walking backwards. the hallway is empty, so kuroo doesn’t try to tell him to walk normally. </p><p>“hurry up then,” he says, reaching out a hand as if he’s trying to pull kuroo closer by sheer force of will. kuroo’s always been pretty weak to bokuto’s will, though, so it doesn’t take much more than that to get him moving faster to catch up.</p><p>they reach the staircase when he’s just a few steps away, and bokuto’s hand is still held out despite how close kuroo has gotten. when he gives bokuto a questioning look, his friend just grins even wider, wiggling his fingers and holding it out more insistently.</p><p>kuroo laughs, and reaches out to take it.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>congrats, u made it to the end! </p><p>im also on <a href="https://msbyblackjackals.tumblr.com">tumblr</a> (and technically i have a <a href="https://twitter.com/keplcrs">twitter</a> but its been on priv until yesterday bc i dont know how to use it lmao)</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>